Erin.H
New Member
Hi everyone!
New tortoise keeper. I just got Leonardo at the beginning of August and have been doing all kinds of research etc to try to keep him as healthy as possible.
Leo was 2.5 inches and 44 grams August 8th and he is now pushing 60 grams and 3 inches Sept 7th. He is an Eastern Hermanns from what I can tell.
My current set-up / routine:
-currently a mixture of coconut fiber and "forest floor" substrate.
- water dish gets replaced every morning
-i mist him and the substrate twice a day
-1/8th of a tsp of Zoomed's reptivite every saturday.
- 1/8th of a tsp of Flukers Repta-calcium 4 days a week
-i blended up Baby romaine mixture, kale, brussel sprouts, endives, cucumber, radicchio, arugula, plantain, and dandelion greens and then froze them in an ice cube tray. It can eat about 1 per day so far. I only give little tomatoes, and maybe a strawberry like once a week if any.
-If in the evening he is looking for food, I moisten up a Zoo Med grassland pellet for him to eat.
-He has a cuttle bone for extra calcium and I have noticed he nibbles at it.
-Compiled a spreadsheet of 120 plants tortoises can eat from "tortoise table" and i'm planning on finding dried versions of them and making a bulk dry mixture of food that can be stored easily and then moistened when needed.
- Every week when I notice the substrate has dried out I take around 4 cups of water and mix it into the substrate to re-moisten it
-He has a UVA/B heat lamp, I also have a plant light in his enclosure but im not sure if this will remain.
I really really want to prevent Leo from pyramiding and getting upper respiratory infections. If you have any advice, please let me know!
Also, at 3 inches, should a Hermanns have a rock hard shell, or should it be hard ontop, with a bit of give underneath?
Uploading pictures of Leo and its enclosure.
-Erin
New tortoise keeper. I just got Leonardo at the beginning of August and have been doing all kinds of research etc to try to keep him as healthy as possible.
Leo was 2.5 inches and 44 grams August 8th and he is now pushing 60 grams and 3 inches Sept 7th. He is an Eastern Hermanns from what I can tell.
My current set-up / routine:
-currently a mixture of coconut fiber and "forest floor" substrate.
- water dish gets replaced every morning
-i mist him and the substrate twice a day
-1/8th of a tsp of Zoomed's reptivite every saturday.
- 1/8th of a tsp of Flukers Repta-calcium 4 days a week
-i blended up Baby romaine mixture, kale, brussel sprouts, endives, cucumber, radicchio, arugula, plantain, and dandelion greens and then froze them in an ice cube tray. It can eat about 1 per day so far. I only give little tomatoes, and maybe a strawberry like once a week if any.
-If in the evening he is looking for food, I moisten up a Zoo Med grassland pellet for him to eat.
-He has a cuttle bone for extra calcium and I have noticed he nibbles at it.
-Compiled a spreadsheet of 120 plants tortoises can eat from "tortoise table" and i'm planning on finding dried versions of them and making a bulk dry mixture of food that can be stored easily and then moistened when needed.
- Every week when I notice the substrate has dried out I take around 4 cups of water and mix it into the substrate to re-moisten it
-He has a UVA/B heat lamp, I also have a plant light in his enclosure but im not sure if this will remain.
I really really want to prevent Leo from pyramiding and getting upper respiratory infections. If you have any advice, please let me know!
Also, at 3 inches, should a Hermanns have a rock hard shell, or should it be hard ontop, with a bit of give underneath?
Uploading pictures of Leo and its enclosure.
-Erin
